FAA Officials Tout Benefits of Academy Training

Federal Aviation Administration executives throughout the
world are getting a new, seemingly incongruous message _ get your
money's worth, send your students to the FAA Academy in Oklahoma
City.

Since 1947, there has been only one place for the FAA to rely
on for its technical training needs, the academy on the sprawling
campus of the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center on the west side
of Will Rogers World Airport.

Now, suddenly, executives are hearing what almost amounts to
advertisements, touting the benefits of the academy above all
others.

It's no mistake. Competition for training dollars has
increased, and FAA Academy officials are going all out to
continue bringing students to Oklahoma City.

As training needs throughout the agency have increased in the
past few years, the amount of training dollars has decreased. At
the same time, hungry civilian contractors are knocking on the
doors of the U.S. Congress and the FAA headquarters in
Washington, D.C., trying to convince officials that training by
contract will save money.

While civilians are trying to pry their way into the FAA
Academy bailiwick, training planners of other federal agencies,
also seeing their budgets reduced, are trying to lure some of
that FAA training into their classrooms.

Besides these two groups, there are numerous universities,
colleges and vocational-technical schools offering similar types
of programs offered by the FAA Academy. Not only that, but some
universities are offering degree programs in airways science,
which is the most visible of all the academy programs.

All these groups are working to take students away from the
academy.

But it's not going to happen, said Richard L. Rodine and
Christine George, for things are changing at the academy, and
students are getting more than they bargained for.

Not only are students getting more than they expected, but
their sponsoring agency also is getting more, said Rodine, who
became FAA Academy superintendent in April.

This new concept at the academy is similar to programs within
private industry heralding total quality management, with many of
the same buzzwords and slogans. It's a far cry from what is
normally thought of as government operations _ it's customer
driven and tuition based.

"Providing unparalleled quality and customer service in our
training programs is even more essential than ever," Rodine said.
"We are competing for the option of providing training services
for all the departments and elements within the agency."

While the competition for students may be new, the idea of
providing customer service and total quality is not, he said.

Robert S. Bartanowicz, Rodine's predecessor, began the change
toward quality improvement and customer service with the idea of
reducing paperwork and finding more efficient ways to do
business.

That philosophy has not only continued, but it has been
enlarged, according to George, who became deputy superintendent
in September.

"We are working to build customers and quality in training
throughout the entire system," she said.

But because the 300 instructors on the faculty and senior
management of the academy are assigned for relatively short
periods, as is the FAA administrator appointed by the president,
programs started by one regime often are dropped or neglected by
its successor. That won't happen at the academy, Rodine said.

"What we are trying to do is develop a complete attitude, a
way of doing business so that as there is a turnover within the
staff, the faculty, even management itself, there will be a
mindset that this is the way to do business," he said. "Then this
idea will continue even when others are here. …

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